Soccer is a big deal in Cameroon: The men’s national team is the defending continental champion in this month’s African Cup of Nations (AFCON) tournament.
But soccer isn’t just a game in Cameroon; it’s serious work. So serious, in fact, that Cameroonian players went on strike in the middle of this year’s AFCON tournament to demand bigger bonuses.
Last week, players on the Cameroonian national soccer team refused to board their flight to Egypt after they received bonuses of $34k, half of what they initially demanded.
After Cameroon’s ministry of sport agreed to give the players additional bonuses of $8.7k, they agreed to fly to Egypt.
The crafty Cameroonian soccer stars weren’t the only ones thinking about striking in this AFCON tourney: Members of Zimbabwe’s team threatened to boycott their first game because they hadn’t been paid.
Game-time disputes have become increasingly common for a simple reason: They’re effective.
Usually, governments are slow to pay players. But when players threaten to make their countries look stupid during international tournaments, they pay faster: In the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, Ghana’s government flew out an emergency $3m in cash to pay player bonuses.